Monday, July 19, 2004

Spiders

SUMMARY and ANALYSISHave you ever looked a spider in the eye? Looking at the pictures in Seymour Simon’s new book SPIDERS brings you up close and friendly with these fussy eight-legged creatures. This book will cause the arachnophobia to appreciate these scary looking creatures. If the book were compiled of pictures alone it would still remain effective. The photographs are vibrant, up close, and show the arachnid at its best. Turn the page and the tarantula looks as if he’s going to leap from the page and land in your hand.

The book is well organized. Even though the extraordinary photography could carry the entire book, the information is accurately and entertainingly written. Seymour introduces the reader to a variety of spiders that crawl across our carpets and hang from the corners of our ceilings. He explains and gives examples of how and why spiders spin webs, what a spider is, when a spider mates, and the longevity of the eight-legged creature. Seymour Simon has produced numerous books with intriguing and informative data, but this book goes far beyond intriguing.

CONNECTIONSFor younger students, have them make a spider from Styrofoam balls and pipe cleaners.

Students further their understanding of arachnids by choosing a spider and researching its characteristics and abilities.

Build character and make a web: Sit the class in a circle. Hold a ball of white yarn. Hang on to the end and toss the yarn to a child. State something nice about the child. The child with the yarn holds onto a section and repeats until everyone has had a turn. When you are finished, you will have a spider web.RELATED BOOKSOther books about spiders:Berger, Melvin. SPINNING SPIDERS. ISBN 0064452007Gibbons, Gail. SPIDERS. ISBN 0823410811Glaser, Linda. SPECTACULAR SPIDERS. ISBN 0761303863

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The Librarians' Choices project involves a select group of librarians and library professionals in the Dallas/Fort Worth (Texas) area who read and discuss the new books published for children and young adults (0-18) each year and select the 100 most outstanding titles based on literary quality, appeal to children and young adults, the typical needs of a school or community library, and a comparative study of other professional review sources.